Any Airbnb hosts on here?

[matc]

Do you or anyone you know have a property that's let exclusively on Airbnb? I'm keen to know whether the income is greater than it would be to normal tenants on a traditional rental basis and also what the utilisation is of the property - ie it's let 50% of each month for example.

Ideally properties outside of London and the big cities.

Thanks

[Blakeatron]

We have a fully self contained staff quarters/granny flat on the end of our house that wasn't being used - private parking space, own entrance etc.
We tarted it up and let it solely on airbnb, if i do say so its quite nice - small fully equipped kitchen, large shower room, small lounge and super-king bedroom - approx 35m2.
We opened easter weekend and have had 12 ish empty days, minimum 2 night booking.

Never done proper letting but so far very impressed and wish we had done it sooner!

Pm me if you want figures ets

[The Moose]

We've done a bunch of different stuff like this. It is extremely dependent on the location of the property and the surrounding area.

[matc]

Blakeatron said:

We have a fully self contained staff quarters/granny flat on the end of our house that wasn't being used - private parking space, own entrance etc.
We tarted it up and let it solely on airbnb, if i do say so its quite nice - small fully equipped kitchen, large shower room, small lounge and super-king bedroom - approx 35m2.
We opened easter weekend and have had 12 ish empty days, minimum 2 night booking.

Never done proper letting but so far very impressed and wish we had done it sooner!

Pm me if you want figures ets

Wow, only 12 empty days is very encouraging! What's the local competition like if you don't mind me asking? I'm guessing the majority of stays are short term?

I'm looking at some places around here currently and it's difficult to ascertain just what the appetite is, as it looks like there's always around 150 properties available on any given night - also looking at their future availability they don't seem to have a huge amount of forward bookings, so it would be interesting to know if you're getting a lot of forward bookings, or just last minute?

[springfan62]

The answer is it depends on the property and location.

For an idea check out other properties near you on Airbnb and have a look at their pricing an also availability going forward to gauge how popular they are.

Stunning photos are a must, don't use your phone.

Airbnb is more work than a normal let but there is potential for significantly more income.

[Blakeatron]

matc said:

Wow, only 12 empty days is very encouraging! What's the local competition like if you don't mind me asking? I'm guessing the majority of stays are short term?

I'm looking at some places around here currently and it's difficult to ascertain just what the appetite is, as it looks like there's always around 150 properties available on any given night - also looking at their future availability they don't seem to have a huge amount of forward bookings, so it would be interesting to know if you're getting a lot of forward bookings, or just last minute?

Most are 3 nights, had a few week bookings and in October got a 14night.
As it is based at home and my wife doesn't work it is easy to turn it around, she can fully clean and prep in under an hour. She does do all the washing and ironing for it too.

Booking wise it isnt that upfront - September is full, october is 80% gone, nothing in november and Christmas/new year has gone - and just a random weekend in next year from returning guests.
September was only half booked until mid august, same the month before and the month before - very late bookings. We have even had someone book for the next day!

We are in a Windermere - surrounded my cottages, b&b’s, hotels etc. I feel we are a bit cheap but my wife was rather it was busy, will probably Reassess once we have done a full year and got winter out the way. I am fully expecting it to be much quieter as the weather turns

[Composer62]

You might also want to take a look at Homeaway as an alternative to Airbnb. We get quite a lot of business from them. Quite often longer term lets (up to 4 weeks). Seems to be popular with guests from Germany, USA and Australia.

ETA - we're very close to Edinburgh so generally pretty busy for most of the year.

Edited by Composer62 on Tuesday 17th September 17:09

[olivebrown]

Serviced accomodation. It’s the new “buzz word” amongst the hmo, rent2rent, property flips crowd. Alot of active fb groups on it. You can make good money if you can get long-term corporate lets, location, pricing and property standards is key.

[davidd]

Blakeatron said:

Most are 3 nights, had a few week bookings and in October got a 14night.
As it is based at home and my wife doesn't work it is easy to turn it around, she can fully clean and prep in under an hour. She does do all the washing and ironing for it too.

Booking wise it isnt that upfront - September is full, october is 80% gone, nothing in november and Christmas/new year has gone - and just a random weekend in next year from returning guests.
September was only half booked until mid august, same the month before and the month before - very late bookings. We have even had someone book for the next day!

We are in a Windermere - surrounded my cottages, b&b’s, hotels etc. I feel we are a bit cheap but my wife was rather it was busy, will probably Reassess once we have done a full year and got winter out the way. I am fully expecting it to be much quieter as the weather turns

Interesting, can you dm me a link to them please?

[sidekickdmr]

Yep, we have 3 properties on airbnb and do well out of them, none are exclusively on airbnb but 2 of them get circa 90% of the bookings through it.

Feel free to ask anything you wish

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/26678118?s=67&s...

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/36198952?s=67&s...

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/27366172?s=67&s...

[theguvernor15]

sidekickdmr said:

Yep, we have 3 properties on airbnb and do well out of them, none are exclusively on airbnb but 2 of them get circa 90% of the bookings through it.

Feel free to ask anything you wish

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/26678118?s=67&s...

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/36198952?s=67&s...

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/27366172?s=67&s...

Great looking properties!

[ThorB]

A client does it. He says he clears £1,200 pcm on a flat that would generate £500 pcm via an AST. As mentioned above, great photos and decent furniture is a must, but his view was that excellent customer service was the most important aspect. He says he monitors occupancy levels at competing properties in his area and as soon as they get a couple of bad reviews occupancy levels plummet.

[ooid]

matc said:

Do you or anyone you know have a property that's let exclusively on Airbnb? I'm keen to know whether the income is greater than it would be to normal tenants on a traditional rental basis and also what the utilisation is of the property - ie it's let 50% of each month for example.

Ideally properties outside of London and the big cities.

Thanks

I have two overseas (Turkey). One in Istanbul, traditional rented to a long-time tenant. The other one is Airbnb exclusively in Bodrum (Summer location). Well, the second one earns more than the first one (about three times!). The downside, management of airbnb is hard. Communication, last-minute arrangements, maintenance, cleaning and etc etc.. Not to mention the neighbours! Last summer, all my neighbours ganged up on us, due to the amount of visitors we had, not because they were annoying or noisy, they got a bit nosy and angry of the fees that we were accumulating!

One of my close mates also started to let his central london studio flat exclusively on Airbnb, it's earning nearly the twice but it needs work!

[cat with a hat]

sidekickdmr said:

Yep, we have 3 properties on airbnb and do well out of them, none are exclusively on airbnb but 2 of them get circa 90% of the bookings through it.

Feel free to ask anything you wish

Very nice properties!

[ChrisPackit]

This is an interested read as Im in a similar situation to the OP.

I have a 'granny flat' / annex which is a good size, open plan with a sofa bed and with a separate bedroom and bathroom.

I'm looking at renting particularly for one weekend which is the local Creamfields festival, and thought I could test the waters for future lets throughout the year.

What do you guys suggest in terms of insurances etc, just for that weekend... Do AirBnB cover that or do you need a separate policy? Any other considerations?

Thanks

[675 Gaz]

ChrisPackit said:

This is an interested read as Im in a similar situation to the OP.

I have a 'granny flat' / annex which is a good size, open plan with a sofa bed and with a separate bedroom and bathroom.

I'm looking at renting particularly for one weekend which is the local Creamfields festival, and thought I could test the waters for future lets throughout the year.

What do you guys suggest in terms of insurances etc, just for that weekend... Do AirBnB cover that or do you need a separate policy? Any other considerations?

Thanks

This thread/your question couldn't have come at a more perfect time.

I also have a separate open plan annex with double bed, walldrobes sofa etc and a small basic kitchen area with sink, microwave etc.
As well as a en suite with new shower.

It's completely separate to the house with parking space in a semi rural area with close ties to Guildford, Portsmouth so I've been looking into air bnb, currently it sits completely furnished but empty of use.

I'll be following closely